On 13 February, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Albinas Zananavičius presented steps taken by the Lithuanian diplomatic service to prepare for the United Kingdom’s forthcoming withdrawal from the EU without a withdrawal agreement on 29 March 2019.

“As the Brexit day approaches, the Lithuanian Embassy in London strengthens capacities of its consular unit. We began the selection procedure of two new consular officers, set citizen’s reception hours on weekdays, and extended working hours on weekdays. There will be additional consular missions in King's Lynn and Leeds,” said the Foreign Vice-Minister.

The Lithuanian-Polish Parliamentary Assembly has resumed work after a decade-long break.

According to Arvydas Nekrošius, the leader of the Lithuanian Seimas' delegation, a declaration adopted during lawmakers' meeting in Warsaw stressed the importance of this format and the need to continue meetings in the future.

"We could talk about cooperation in the areas of security, defense, energy security, various infrastructure projects, and also issues related to the situation of ethnic minorities," Nekrošius said.

On 12 February, the Honorary Consulate of Lithuania was opened in Paraguay. The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Darius Skusevičius attended the official opening ceremony.

“Today, we are taking a new step in the bilateral relationship between Lithuania and Paraguay. We believe that the new Honorary Consulate will contribute to the development of our relationship in the fields of politics, economy, tourism, education, and other areas, ”said the Vice-Minister Skusevičius.

The Chancellery of the Lithuanian Government held training and tabletop exercises earlier this week, dedicated to countering cyber threats during elections.

Experts from Sweden, Finland and Poland shared their insights into the importance of public resilience during election time, and also shared their experience of deterring third-country attempts to negatively affect the election process. The seminar focused on the 2018 election to the Swedish parliament.

Microsoft shared its thoughts about cooperation between the public and private sectors and the existing instruments to ensure the security of information networks during elections.

Worried over Brexit uncertainty, dozens of fintech companies have applied for licences in Lithuania to secure access to the EU market, France 24 reports.

"We expect to receive around 100 applications from fintech companies this year," Marius Jurgilas, a member of the board at the central bank, told AFP.

The Lithuanian fintech cluster already includes over 110 licensed companies, second only to Britain in the European Union, while another 61 applications are under review, according to central bank figures.

On February 11th, 2019, the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO For Women in Science programme announced the list of International Rising Talents. The list features 15 most promising researchers, and among them is Dr Urtė Neniškytė, a neuroscientist at Vilnius University’s Life Sciences Centre (VU LSC).

She will accept the award together with other talented scientists during a ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The ceremony is a part of the “For Women in Science” week, during which eminent international scientists come together to celebrate the contribution of women to the development of science.

Marking the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated on 11 February, Eurostat released a report on the proportion of women in science and technology in EU member states.

In 2017, of almost 18 million scientists and engineers in the EU, 59% were men and 41% women. However, in five EU Member States, the majority of scientists and engineers were women: Lithuania (57% female), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 53%), Portugal (51%) and Denmark (just over 50%).

According to Statistics Lithuania, total exports of goods increased by 7.3 per cent over 2018 to EUR 28.3 billion. 

The greatest contributors to the growth in exports of goods of Lithuanian origin (excluding energy products) were the chemical industry (about 3 pp), the engineering industry (2.1 pp), the tobacco products industry (1.9 pp) and the furniture industry (1.1 pp).

Vilnius is going to have a memorable celebration of the Day of Independence of Lithuania – a unique sense of unity, events, concerts and 70 fires will be waiting in the city centre!

Moreover, the traffic lights of the capital will be lit in the Lithuanian Tricolour. The same colours will be used to light the monument of Three Crosses and three main bridges in Vilnius: Mindaugas, Green and White bridges, as well as the Town Hall, Philharmonic and the Cathedral’s Belfry.

Three main streets of the capital – Gedimino and Konstitucijos avenues and Pilies street – will be decorated festively.

The international Vilnius Book Fair, which marks 20th anniversary this year, will feature a novelty – literary duels between creators and critics.

Held on February 21-24, the largest event dedicated to literature, music and cultural discussions, promises 200 meetings with various authors, 18 events at five spacious halls and over 50 foreign guests.

Based in Vilnius, Art Factory Loftas promises an impressive summer experience and is now open for the up and coming band applications to participate in the international band competition Music Incubator Novus.

Music Incubator Novus is an international young bands competition and is held for four straight years at Art Factory Loftas. The project encourages to participate bands of any music genre.

Novus is looking for the most exciting acts from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. This year’s competition will be held in June-July at Art Factory Loftas summer terrace supported by Lithuania’s national radio “LRT Opus” and television.

The Lithuanian State Security Department (VSD) has collaborated with a team of film professionals and historians on a new documentary entitled "The Shadow Front".

The documentary uses previously unshown photos and video material from the archives and modern movie animation to look at the behind-the-scenes work of Lithuania's interwar intelligence. Five historians helped the creative team in the production of the documentary, which took more than a year to make.

The Bank of Lithuania has issued into circulation two collector coins dedicated to the end-of-winter celebration Užgavėnės – a €1.5 coin from a copper-nickel alloy and a €5 silver coin featuring the legendary Morė, the effigy of winter, and masqueraders. The coins will be issued into circulation on 19 February.